Preamble
The off-cycle Edo State Gubernatorial election was held conducted as scheduled in most of the polling units across the State. The African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD) in keeping with its mission of working with forces of positive change to empower citizens to transform society, mobilized and deployed observers to monitor the elections in selected Local Government Areas of the State.
Below is the summary of rapid observations as received from our observers.
INEC logistics and the arrival of materials
In most places observed, there was a slight delay in the arrival of materials for instance in Oredo Ward 2 Unit 15 at 9:45am.
Turnout of voters
The turnout of voters was generally low. The apathy was widespread in most places we observed. Though in some places there was heavy rain which may have contributed to the low turnout especially seen in Ward 9 Units 6,7,31 and 32 of Ikpoba Okha LGA. However, despite the rain in Unit 7,8, and 9 of Ward 5 in Ugboko in Orhionmwon LGA witnessed an appreciable turnout. This was also the case in Okada Grammar School Polling Unit 15 in Okada West, Ovia North East LGA. Only 93 voters out of over 700 registered were accredited at UNIBEN Ekehuan Campus at Ward 3 PU1. Also, at Emopkae Primary School, Mission Road, Ward 4, where the Governor voted, a very low turnout was recorded.
Security of the election:
The voting exercise was generally very peaceful. The presence of security agents was encouraging.
Vote buying
Incidence of vote buying were witnessed in Ugiomo Primary School, Oredo LGA where some party agents were seen wooing voters with cash
The functionality of the BVAS
We did not observe any issues with the functionality of the BVAS machine during the accreditation process.
Presence of Party Agents
We observe that only PDP, APC and Labour party had agents in most of the polling units.
Way forward
- All stakeholders involved in the electoral process especially political parties should as a matter of deliberate actions put an end to vote buying to avoid compromising the outcome of elections.
- All Stakeholders especially INEC and the political parties should emphasize voter education and mobilization in the runoff to elections. This will galvanize the electorate for better turnout on election day.
Conclusion
While we await the final declaration of results, we note that there was an appreciable improvement in INEC logistics arrangement and deployment. The low voter turnout was a major issue in the whole election process. Centre LSD will issue its final report after a thorough analysis of all the reports from its observers.
Mr Monday Osasah
Executive Director, Centre LSD
